Picture fuzzy Z-linguistic set and its application in multiple attribute group decision-making

Picture fuzzy linguistic set is a vital solution to express complex and uncertain information, which has been applied in multi-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM). However, the credibility of decision-making information is unconsidered, which may give rise to the inaccuracy of final result. To solve this problem, the picture fuzzy Z-linguistic set (PFZLS) composed of linguistic term, picture fuzzy number, and credibility is proposed, which could express more complete decision-making information. Subsequently, operation rules, comparison methods, and distance measures of PFZLS are introduced. In addition, the weighted geometric average operator and the classical VIKOR method are extended and combined to solve the MAGDM problem under the picture fuzzy Z-linguistic environment. Finally, an illustrative example about the emergency decision-making (EDM) problem of forest fire accident is proposed, and a series of comparative analyses are presented to verify the rationality and superiority of the PFZLS.